English Original
cold front
on the wall between us
a slow growth of moss
Troutswirl, The Haiku Foundation, May 2019
Martha Magenta
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
冷鋒
在我們之間的牆上
緩慢成長的苔蘚
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
冷锋
在我们之间的墙上
缓慢成长的苔藓
Bio Sketch
Martha Magenta lived in England, UK. Her haiku and tanka has appeared in a number of journals, and anthologies. She was awarded Honourable Mentions for her haiku in The Fifth Annual Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards, 2017, and in the 71st Basho Memorial English Haiku Contest, 2017, and for her tanka in UHTS “Fleeting Words” Tanka Contest 2017.
On the surface, there seems to be a "causal relationship" between L1, "cold front" and L3, a "slow growth" of moss.
ReplyDeleteHowever, according to professional moss grower Annie Martin (author of "Grow Moss in Winter," https://www.speakingoflandscapes.com/grow-moss-in-winter), “As long as the surface is moist and exposed, moss photosynthesizes all year... Moss doesn't mind moving to frozen or semi-frozen surfaces as long as the surface is rough."
Armed with this knowledge on a second reading, we now know that Ls 2&3 function more like a metaphor for this "neighborly relationship" described in L2, and that L1 enahnces the tone and mood of this relationship.
And the haiku below could be read as its sequel:
cold front
the edges
of loneliness
NeverEnding Story, May 15, 2014
Polona Oblak
And my tanka below could be read as its backstory:
a growth of moss
on the high fence between me
and my neighbor ...
could anything change
if I apologized first
NeverEnding Story, July 28, 2024